The royal sites of Ireland were the seats of the Gaelic kings of Ireland. Medieval sources describe them as the ceremonial capitals of various Irish kingdoms, where kingly inaugurations, assemblies and athletic games were held. Archaeological investigations show that many royal sites were culturally significant for thousands of years before recorded history, and they often include ancient monuments such as Neolithic burial mounds, standing stones, cairns and enclosures. Each Irish kingdom is thought to have had its own royal site, but six sites are considered to be the most important. These are Tara (), seat of the Kings of Meath and the High King, along with the provincial capitals: Navan Fort (Eamhain Macha) for Ulster; Rathcroghan (Cruachan) for Connacht; Knockaulin (Dún Ailinne) for Leinster; and Cashel (Caiseal) for Munster. Uisneach represented the union of the provinces and may have served as a meeting place for the kings. These major sites, excluding Navan Fort (in Northern Ireland), have been listed as a potential UNESCO World Heritage Site. These primary sites might be associated with less prominent sites that served other purposes for the kingship. For instance, the King of Tara presided over assemblies at Tailtiu (Teltown) and Tlachgta (the Hill of Ward) during the Lughnasadh festival. Features of a royal site Historian Michael Herity analysed several historically designated royal sites to determine what feature they shared. He noted that each had ring-barrows, most had hillforts and linear earthwork avenues, a few had cairns or standing stones, but he noted the lack of these may have been due to these structures' fragility. Herity also notes that literary sources celebrate these sites as cemeteries and may indicate ancestor worship. Herity also notes that a composite mound and circular enclosure structure, exemplified by the combination of An Forradh and Teach Cormaic, is almost exclusively found on royal sites. Less frequent features include sacred trees ("bileda"), stone chairs, inauguration stones, stone basins, and churches. Inauguration sites Many royal sites served as ceremonial locations for inauguration ceremonies. The prospective monarchs benefited from associating themselves with the ancient monuments and cultural significance of the royal sites. Inauguration ceremonies treated the prospective king's lands as "betrothed" and the rituals followed the pattern of a marital feast or banais righe. The hilltop location of the inauguration sites offered panoramic views of the "betrothed" lands during the ceremony. Similar feis ceremonies in the early Middle Ages represented a direct marriage